Different trajectories of citizenship across latent classes of adolescent online risk behavior

Abstract

Understanding the misuse of digital technologies and its devastating effects is a fundamental concern for psychosocial adjustment among adolescents today. The present study examined patterns of online risk behavior among South Korean youth and suggested citizenship-operationalized as sense of community, multicultural acceptability, and volunteering-as a foundation to promote online civic culture. Five years of data from the Korean Child and Youth Panel Survey were used. Latent class growth analysis resulted in three distinct categories of online risk behavior: low-decline (86.6%), moderate-steady (11.1%), and high-convex (2.2%). With the multiple-group growth modeling approach, adolescents in the low-decline and moderate-steady groups showed an overall increase in citizenship over time. The findings may provide implications for prevention practices that reflect developmental differences in patterns of adolescents' online risk behavior. Promoting citizenship as a desirable element of positive development may help adolescents grow into responsible users of technology in the digital age.